Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainYooh
NHL owners have created this monster system themselves by starting to sign superstar players to multi-year multi-million dollar contracts with NMC/NTC. Most, if not all, NHL players are proud athletes. Even a short demotion to the minors could wake up a player whose compete level is not up to par. In my opinion, NMC/NTC is the whole reason superstar players feel and are pretty much untouchable. What CAN a coach/GM/CEO and, ultimately, an owner really do, when a superstar player checks out somewhere in the early to mid stage of his contract? Nothing. Buying out mid-term is a financial disaster.
Fans are siding with Benn and Seguin here, but they are wrong. These outbursts never happen out of the nothing. There is no doubt in my mind that the normal progression of warnings, heart-to-heart talks by the coach have taken its course already without a desired outcome. The owner pays for all this. He has the full right to be pissed off and voice his displeasure publicly, if his highest-paid players are not listening to their coach and playing half-ass.
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100% this. The product is worse with guaranteed contracts. The game is worse with guaranteed contracts. 99.9999% of people, are going to coast a little more when you get ginormous contracts that don’t need to be lived up to. All you have to do, literally is show up and not get injured after you get your massive payday. I don’t even blame anybody in particular. In fact- it’s human nature.
If the owners are that upset, they need to re-think the system. It doesn’t foster the work ethic they want to see. Well- it does- until you make these young men rich. Then it doesn’t. So you shouldn’t be surprised when Benn starts to take it a little easier. It’s human nature, and they can’t do anything about it, except buy him out. Which is even better for Benn as now he gets paid and literally doesn’t have to show up anymore.